France Rejects Bitcoin Mining Proposal

The French National Assembly has decided not to discuss the subject of bitcoin mining as a possible destination for the French energy surplus. The recently introduced amendment was rejected on procedural grounds, which means the measure’s intent was not fully discussed.

National Assembly of France Dodges Bitcoin Mining Proposal for Now

Bitcoin is now being discussed as a high-level state policy in countries like France. The French National Assembly recently considered a proposal that introduced bitcoin mining as a state activity, presenting the possibility of utilizing French energy excesses to mine bitcoin as a state initiative.

The proposal, which was introduced in the Assembly earlier this month, didn’t propose to allocate excess energy resources to bitcoin directly, but to merely study the possibility of doing so.

The amendment to the current regulatory simplification in the economic energy sector proposed to assess “the conditions for developing Bitcoin mining activities in France, as a tool for exploiting surplus electricity production, stabilizing the network and optimizing the operation of the nuclear fleet.”

The revolutionary idea would put France at the forefront of state bitcoin mining adoption, being one of the only countries, besides El Salvador and Bhutan, to contemplate the activity as part of their energy strategy.

The current proposal was rejected by the assembly and declared inadmissible “following Article 98 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.” Nonetheless, the reason that caused this rejection is still unclear, as Article 98 is very broad and gives rise to several interpretations.

Local media reports that, as with many proposals presented, it may have been rejected because it was considered to include a provision that added elements not directly related to the bill’s subject.

The objection would pertain only to the form of the proposal, allowing for a more straightforward amendment to be presented in the future that aims to introduce the same bitcoin-related changes.

Nonetheless, local analysts say this seems unlikely to happen in the short term, as bitcoin mining is still considered to be an environmental disaster in France.

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